[Anonymous]

[MartynSinclair]

Just as one strike appears closed another opens.

Articles appearing on the wire that Virgin pilots have voted for strike action over pay.

[CallMeIshmael]

Contrary this forum’s obdurate prolific poster, the Thunderer believes there will be a strike.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-18/union-says-virgin-pilots-will-probably-strike-times-reports.html

[Hippocampus]

97% have voted yes on a 94% turnout.

I expect a compromise will be reached without actual industrial action.

[Binman62]

I am not sure about this. Mr Branson does not strike me as a man up for fight and VS probably does not have the resources to engage in any protracted dispute.

I suspect there will be some sort of fudge in the end that will keep them working and the planes in the air.

[craigwatson]

and im not so sure it will be solved that easily. there are more factors at work here, such as VS are in talks with thomas cook to contract some of their pilots in the charter off season, which really messes with the seniority of FO’s on VS and really puts back their chances for making command.

[CallMeIshmael]

Pay is only the tip of the pilot’s angst. This will not be resolved by an improvement of 1 or 2% which will still be a long way behind inflation.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/8589741/Virgin-Atlantic-faces-pilot-strike.html

Unless Ridgeway is pragmatic on pay, fair share, rostering etc a strike is the likely outcome.

[Hippocampus]

Virgin has provided a set of FAQs on its website:

http://virginatlantic.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/587

They seem confident about avoiding a strike. They claim they will able to wet lease aircraft in the event of a strike but wet leases of long haul aircraft are hard to come by, not least in the summer season.

[CallMeIshmael]

The first line of support will be from their strategic partners and shareholders in SIA.

[Hippocampus]

Open letter from Sir Richard to all Virgin pilots:

http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/blog/open-letter-to-all-virgin-pilots

[Bucksnet]

Above the letter is a picture of the new Virgin A330, but it has the wrong engines. Virgin don’t actually fly these, so it makes you wonder where it came from.

It reminds me of the forum posters meeting we had at the BA Waterside heritage centre – the BA 767 model did not have RR engines either.

[MartynSinclair]

Buckenet, you have a keen eye. Would be interested to see the real engine so I can try to fathom the difference. Good spot.

[CallMeIshmael]

The content of Sir Richard Branson’s open letter demonstrates a high level of emotional intelligence. One hopes Willie Walsh takes lessons in the benefit of such an approach then actively applies the learnings in his future dealings with his front line team, the media and customers.

[Bucksnet]

RR engines have a clearly identifiable shape: –

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30949611@N03/5460824025/

[Hippocampus]

The letter has not gone down well with the Virgin pilots as it basically tells them, in an oh so polite way, to sod off. This is what Sir Richard also told his cabin crew when they voted for strike action in 2008. The letter also ignores the fact that there are more issues than simply pay.

Sir Richard cannot have it both ways. He cannot be the face of the airline during carefully planned PR stunts and events (see recent press event in Miami for the 25th anniversary of the LON-MIA route) and then disappear/abdicate responsibility when the going gets tough.

There is if course precedent for this. Sir Richard has still never apologised in person to camera for the involvement of his airline in price fixing (and Steve Ridgway admitted he knew it was going on).

Contrast that to Willie Walsh who apologised to camera on the day the full details emerged or the unprecedented amount of time he, as a then FTSE 100 CEO devoted to union negotiations in spite of some truly disgraceful behaviour by a certain cabin crew branch.

Perhaps Sir Richard needs to learn a few lessons himself?

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